Argh.

at this point in ai, it’s less about the individual performances week to week and more about the fan clubs that have formed out in america the first part of the season.

i thought carly would have been gone long ago. i’m surprised that brooke “carly simon” whatshername wasn’t sent packing after tuesday’s flub (”i’m sorry can i start again?” wow - that’s professional!).

i heart ai, because, being in show biz myself, i am glad that america gets a chance to see how, from beginning to end, a person needs to be 1000% brilliant every time they get up on stage to perform.

that’s the mark of the professional.

and i too used to hate alw, till i actually saw one of his shows (”phantom” at her majesty’s theater in london…the theater it was written for).

alw is actually harder musically than one would think.

and i’m taking david cook over david archuletta this year. or, if cook loses, watch for him to pull a daughtry and do better professionally than anyone who passes him in the actual contest.

I don’t see a particular influence from the Clinton trial on the 2000 movie, though? What am I blind to here?

You’re not blind to anything. I see the banks of photographers, microphones and reporters as a new addition, taken from the Great Feeding Frenzy of 1998, when Monica threw the chum into the water. I remember how they all followed Clinton around “Do you intend to resign, sir? When? Are you going to apologize? Confess? Blah, blah, blah, etc.”They were far less interested in his plans for health care than they were about his upcoming political destruction, just like those who watch Passion of The Christ are less interested in the message then in his bloody death.

But maybe that’s just me.

I agree; Fred Johanson does indeed rock, even in Nazi gear.

I don’t see a particular influence from the Clinton trial on the 2000 movie, though? What am I blind to here?

If I were producing the show, I’d steal l’opoponax’s excellent idea and put everyone in suits, maybe cast Caiaphas as Jerry Falwell and Annia’s as Ken Starr, and so on.

OMG. If you could get Monica Lewinski herself to play the part of Mary Magdalene, I’d bankroll that shit.

Anyway, as a huge fan of JCS back in the day, I was horrified by Smithson’s recital on American Idol. That was the worst desecration of a song since the dreadlocked little guy butchered Hallelujah, which was truly a sin, if there actually is such a thing.

Regarding the Gospels, the academic debate among New Testament scholars is about what percent of them between 97 and 100 is total fiction. Of course the fact that Christianity is at least 97, if not 100 percent bogus doesn’t mean that there isn’t an invisible super being who knows your every thought ruling the universe in a sickeningly god-awful manner, but it’s probably another pretty good clue.

l’opoponax

We weren’t doubting you or making fun of you; I’m sorry if it seemed that way.
If you think I doubted you, I’m sorry. JC and Judas are usually tenors to show their youth, so that’s why Caiphas has a deeper voice, for contrast. Caiaphas and Annias aren’t household names, even to most Christians; that’s why they’re usually swathed in black, and Caiphias usually has a deep, Darth Vader like voice, so even the most ignorant theater patrons will know they’re villains right from the start.

Obviously, you and your casting director decided to go in a more innovative direction, and that’s great. You must have an amazing voice and acting talent, because that not an easy part. There’s nothing that says Caiphas has to have a deep voice; just like there’s nothing that says JC has to look exactly like the Bible pictures. JC is clean shaven in the 2000 production; he’s been played by an AA woman, and one of the Indigo girls. Obviously, if JC can be a woman, so can Caiphas. We weren’t doubting you or making fun of you; I’m sorry if it seemed that way.

Pat Doyle;

I can’t speak for everyone else, but like I said, I never claimed to have taste.

Dan, (or perhaps I should say “Your Bannananess”),

Thanks. Glad you liked the link! You can find most of the production on YouTube. Hope you check out Pilate’s songs; he plays it as a cross between a Nazi and a tough drill sergeant on the verge of a nervous breakdown. In “39 Lashes”, he looks like he’s about to pop a blood vessel.

The Barrabas part isn’t included in JCS, so I think the charges of anti-Semitism are a little thin. More relevantly, JCS isn’t about “Oh, some people killed a nice man. Isn’t that awful?“ It’s more universal than that, and reflects more about the current culture’s obsession with building up celebrities and tearing them down. Think about it; a young, charismatic leader comes to town. He seems to have solutions to every problem, and his popular following disturbs the local power structure, so they plot to bring him down. He disappoints his most radical followers, he finds he can’t heal everyone, he upsets the big money boys, and then he betrayed by someone he trusts, so he’s destroyed. Change a few of the names, and it could be “Bill Clinton, Superstar”. (or a few years down the road, it could be “Obama, Superstar”.) The Clinton impeachment obviously influenced the 2000 version, as you can see here.

Good thing that version was never shown on “American Idol”; it’d be kicked off the air forever. Like Clinton, combining the sacred with teh Sex is blasphemy that must be punished. (Yeah, yeah, the costume designer has obviously seen Victoria’s Secret fashion shows too many times.) If I were producing the show, I’d steal l’opoponax’s excellent idea and put everyone in suits, maybe cast Caiaphas as Jerry Falwell and Annia’s as Ken Starr, and so on. And wouldn’t that make the fundies beat the erasers over their heads?

Joe Queenan once said that rock is to the left what religion is to the right;
a way to connect with others, to feel the same power, excitment and joy. That’s another reason the fundies hate JCS: they don’t like to admit that a good sermon and “devil music” can touch the same nerves.

Granmar; I liked both versions, in completely different ways, though I don’t think 2000’s Judas had the same vocal skillz as 1973’s. The 1973 one is more fun and colorful, as well as more subtle. The 2000 version is darker and more menacing; it’s got a hipper, more urban feel. I would have liked to see Tony Vincent do Judas here like he did on Broadway. (He plays Simon Zealotes in the 2000 movie). He’s got more charisma and he’s got more of a rock star look.

That she’s a has-been who couldn’t even sell 400 records when given $2 million might also have been a factor in her early exit.

Let me know where you’re hanging, ok?

yours wretchedly,

Doctor Science

How about we let this one rest between us, as it’s clear enough what each of us thinks. We don’t have to agree.